Factors influencing the return of inactive blood donors in a Cameroonian blood bank.

Identify factors that influence the return of donors to increase their loyalty while improving blood safety is crucial in our context. Between October 2017 and April 2018, we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study at the Blood Bank of the Yaoundé University Teaching Hospital. The study included all former donors who had not donated blood voluntarily for over a year. Quantitative variables were described using means and standard deviations. Fisher's exact test and Chi2 test were used for association measures between qualitative variables. Statistical test results were considered significant for a P<0.05 value. We interviewed a total of 101 inactive donors. The study population was 74.3% male, donors average 30±7 years. Female gender and good staff hospitality were the factors most associated with the intention to return. The barriers to donor return were mainly lack of information on blood needs (35.60%) and time constraint for blood donation (26.73%). Pro-social motivations such as altruism (30.70%) were the main possible sources of motivation cited. To reduce blood deficiency and mortality due to lack of blood products, non-financial material compensation, good outreach and communication strategy can increase inactive donors' loyalty and consequently in improving blood safety in our context.

Comparative assessment of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus diagnostic assays for use in resource-limited settings.

BACKGROUND: The rise of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a global health concern. Paucity of data on MRSA carriage prevalence and diagnostic methods in resource-limited settings hampers efforts to define the problem and plan an appropriate response. Additionally, high variability in cost and logistical characteristics of MRSA screening methods may impede infection control efforts. We compared the performance of locally-available chromogenic agar BD CHROMagar MRSA II and two PCR-based assays (Hain GenoQuick MRSA and Cepheid Xpert SA Complete) for the detection of asymptomatic MRSA carriage in nasal swabs. RESULTS: During 2015, we enrolled 500 patients from five hospital wards at a Ugandan regional referral hospital. We found 30% prevalence of methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA) nasal carriage, and 5.4% MRSA nasal carriage prevalence. Compared to a composite reference standard defined as a positive test result on any one of the three assays, Hain GenoQuick MRSA demonstrated the highest sensitivity (96%) followed by direct plating on CHROMagar at (70%), with the lowest sensitivity observed with Xpert SA Complete (52%). Cepheid Xpert provided the most rapid results (< 1 h) but was the most expensive (US $45-50/test). Substantially more labor was required for the Hain GenoQuick MRSA compared to Xpert SA Complete or CHROMagar tests. CONCLUSION: MRSA nasal carriage prevalence rates were low, and high diagnostic sensitivity was achieved using Hain GenoQuick MRSA. Chromogenic media had significantly lower sensitivity, but may represent a viable local option given its lower cost compared to PCR-based assays.